The Writing Workshop

Online Style Guides

Tips On Writing a Good Paper
(Adapted by Julia Thompson, Ph.D.)

It is not easy to write a great paper.  However, writing a good paper is not all that difficult if you follow a few basic guidelines.

1. Thinking Things Out

   1. A good paper must have a thesis.  Your thesis is the point you wish to make.  Obviously, it must be an arguable point.  Two examples of theses are 1. "Patriarchy is universal" and 2. "Marxist models cannot account for gender hierarchies."  One way to figure out your thesis is to ask: What is the basic theme or point of my paper?  There are very likely more than one themes or points, but it is a good exercise in clear thinking to keep working at developing a simple declarative sentence or two (a.k.a. a thesis) which states simply and clearly what the paper is about.  It can be as simple as a sentence that begins, "This paper is about...."  After stating what it is about, you might want to liven it up a bit, adding some more information to "hook" your reader (a.k.a. me, your instructor).  You might not get this first topic sentence right the first time or the second time--nobody does.  You have to work on it and refine it.

   2. Think out how you intend to argue your thesis.  Work through the arguments before you start writing.  Let me repeat this for emphasis.  Don't try to start writing until you know what your thesis is and have a plan for the development of your argument.  At this point, just so you can keep your argument straight, you might want to begin to take notes and create an outline.  This will help you both clarify your thesis and to work through your argument.

   3. Make sure that your arguments are solid.  Do this before you start writing too.  This is perhaps the trickiest part of the job.  Once you have a thesis--that is, once you have convinced yourself of something--it is easy to drop your intellectual guard and to begin to construct arguments that are only convincing enough to convince the convinced.  We all have problems with this.  My advice is to become quasi-schizophrenic.  Pretend that you have two personalities, one of which agrees with your thesis and one, an evil twin Muffy, who finds your thesis not just absurd but repugnant in some way.  As Muffy, pick apart every argument you make.  Look for the weaknesses, the fudges, the inconsistencies.  Consider the implicit and explicit assumptions; if there are any that are assailable, figure out what happens when you change them.  If you do this, you will end up with stronger arguments.  You may have to qualify your original thesis, but that's okay.  It might even turn out that Muffy's arguments blow yours away.  That's okay too.  That's why you don't start writing until after you have gone through steps A & B & C.  Holding off writing until you have finished thinking is more important than you might imagine.  Don't kid yourself.  Once you have spent fifteen minutes getting the wording of a sentence just right you begin to get attached to it, and you'll be reluctant to give it up, even if it is wrong.

2. Writing

   If you start the Writing Part after you have completed the Thinking Part, the writing will be less painful than it would otherwise be.  When writing a paper, I find that the best metaphor to bear in mind is "giving directions."

   1. TELL THE READER WHERE SHE IS GOING

      Would you expect people to spend an hour or more following (occasionally tedious) directions without telling them where they were going?  Not if you were playing with a full deck you wouldn't.  Therefore, the first paragraph of your paper should contain a "thesis statement," which is an arguable statement that, presented at the beginning of an essay, provides the logical and organizational framework for that essay.  This not only gives the reader some incentive to follow your argument, but just as important, by introducing the major components of that argument right from the start, you help guide the reader through the intricacies of the paper's argument.  Don't try to say too much in the thesis statement: your reader may lose that all-important sense of where things are heading.

   2. YOUR ARGUMENTS SHOULD ADVANCE YOUR THESIS IN A LOGICAL WAY

      Again, think of giving directions.  Good directions get people from A to D via B and C by getting them from A to B, B to C, and C to D.  Directions in the wrong order are useless, not to mention aggravating.  Your arguments should flow one to the next in a natural, logical way.  If for some reason there just has to be what might look like a detour, tell the reader what is happening.  (For example, if there are three essential components to point B, which forms the basis for Point C, let the reader know that you will discuss B's three points and then move on to Point C.) Obviously, if the detour isn't absolutely necessary, don't include it.

   3. BE CLEAR AND SIMPLE

      Make every word count: "waste words" just get in the way.  Using big words where a smaller one will do is like giving directions in Latin.

   4. USE THE ACTIVE VOICE

      DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT use the passive voice.  "In this paper it will be proven that gender hierarchies are universal" is deadly to read.  Aaaargh!!  Compare it to "I will prove in this paper that gender hierarchies are universal."  You are writing this paper: there is no mysterious agent that is penning your arguments, or at least there had better not be.  Don't be shy (or pretentious).  Same goes for "we."  To paraphrase Mark Twain, the only individuals who should refer to themselves as "we" are royalty and people with parasites.  If you don't know the difference between passive and active voices-or are confused about the difference between that and which--get a copy of Strunk and White's little gem of a book The Elements of Style.  This book is available at Waterstreet Books for around $6.00.  It is the best investment in clear writing you will ever make, I promise.  You can also access Elements of Style on line through the Bartleby Library at http://www.bartleby.com/141/index.html.

   5. USE QUOTATIONS

      In order to persuade your reader of your argument, give me some good quotes from the books and articles you are using to support your thesis.  Be careful not to make them too long, or it will look like the authors of this literature are writing the paper and not you.  You are the ringmaster or Maitre D' here--you're in charge.  You have to corral and tame those quotations, and make them serve your purposes.

   6. MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR OWN OPINIONS

      Finally, don't forget to include your personal (and often gut) reactions to the material with which you are working as you go.  You have a life, a brain, a bundle of experiences against which to measure what you're researching and writing: where they demand to be heard, let them out.

3. Edit, Edit, Edit

   1. Check your spelling.  Check your grammar.  Check your punctuation.

   2. Read over each and every sentence and paragraph to make sure you didn't leave out any words or phrases or sentences.  Make sure every sentence is a sentences with a noun and verb.  Make sure every sentence is intelligible to someone other than yourself or a mindreader.

   3. Read over the whole paper to make sure that there is a logical flow to your argument.  Everything should be working to advance your thesis.  If a sentence or a paragraph does not advance your thesis, delete it or change it.

   4. After you have done A and B and C, do them again.

4. First and Second Drafts

   Even if you and Muffy are geniuses, you should plan on writing at least two drafts.  Your initial draft must go as your own sense of curiosity and obligation and inspiration take you.  For your next draft you have to think about making it a clear, readable paper.  Here you have to concern yourself with such aspects of writing and composition as good topic sentences, good coherent paragraphs, perhaps useful subheads.  You have to think about choosing precise nouns and good strong verbs.  You want to avoid overlong sentences with too many ideas and jargon or esoteric terms that communicate only to an in-group.  If you get to feeling that you're lost in the piece and can't see the forest for the trees you may want to stand back for a minute and scratch out a hasty outline to re-structure the whole thing.  You will want to have a strong beginning paragraph setting the stage for the piece and then a strong closing paragraph looking back on it and reminding us of the big picture which it was all about.